Dana 35 access cover?

[sharpertouch]

ok im about to embark on creating a front diff cover. Y, u ask. well... y not?
ill be able to easily flush fluid, it will be much stronger than the axle housing itself, and most importantly ill be able to take a peek in there whenever i feel like it.

if anyone has any suggestions or knows anyone who has done this before, start posting!

im gunna make this beefy and theyll be reproduced if all goes well.


Trey :icon_welder:

[rickcdewitt]

i thought about that as well,but arm strength concerns and other projects kept me from following through

[BlackBII]

There was a guy I saw do it a while back, may have been before the whole fiasco, can't seem to remember who....

[brendank]

It's definitely possible, and I've seen it done well before, but you need to be careful. The existing cover/beam provides alot of the rigidity that exists in that beam. You need to make sure that the beam is just as strong or stronger than it was before, otherwise you're headed for major problems.

[sharpertouch]

well im planning on using 3/8" plate for the cover and maybe 1/2" for the ring (only if needed for ring clearance.) also now that u mention the rigidity of the arm, i will brace/reinforce/gusset as needed... if needed. dont forget that where the ring sits it is bolted directly to the housing of the third member. i figure that will hold up under high stresses.

[c_note]

you know what? you just convinced me to do my next project. i have an ifs and my d35 is leaking alot of gear oil. i need to make it to where i dont have to tear the entire front suspension down just to add fluid. i will probably put a plug on top and another on bottom.

post some pics when ur done.

[Evan]

you know what? you just convinced me to do my next project. i have an ifs and my d35 is leaking alot of gear oil. i need to make it to where i dont have to tear the entire front suspension down just to add fluid. i will probably put a plug on top and another on bottom.

post some pics when ur done.

To fill, all you need to do is remove the fill plug and dump fluid in there...

To change, buy a $2.00 siphon pump, suck the old oil out thru the fill plug and dump the new stuff in.

I don't see any benefit to doing this, and there is a great risk of weakening the beam. You wouldn't be able to so any work in there by only removing the cover, and filling/changing is already easy.

Your next project IMHO should be to fix the leak in your diff so you don't need to add fluid all the time.

[sharpertouch]

c_note - pics will be posted...

evan - this isnt just for easy fluid change but also to create any easy way to check things out in there when needed.

[Evan]

c_note - pics will be posted...

evan - this isnt just for easy fluid change but also to create any easy way to check things out in there when needed.


The inspection capability would definitely be the biggest advantage of doing this, but if something is wrong in there you'll be able to tell by driving problems or just by jacking the front up and spinning the tires. If there is a problem, then you'll have to pull everything out anyway.

[kunar]

yeah, it's been done. if i remember, before the forum 'switch' somebody posted pics of someone they knew that did it. so it was a friend of a member, not the member himself. they used studs and nuts to hold the front diff on rather than bolts, so you can take the cover off without the diff trying to fall out. also, as far as draining these things goes, i have heard of people grinding or drilling through the inside of the case, into the lowermost bolt hole. this way, you just pull the bolt and all the fluid drains out.

[JFA_Spyderman]

Yo,
I try and save pictures of projects i may do in the future. I believe these are the pics from the old board.
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/724/2493984370fullgr6.jpg
http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/8775/2493984372fullhi5.jpg
http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/6904/2493984373fullge5.jpg
http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/5008/2493984374fullyh9.jpg
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/8765/2493984375fullyu7.jpg
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/1183/2493984376fullcn9.jpg
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/5840/2493984377fulllq5.jpg
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/9153/2493984378fullou2.jpg
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/2913/2493984379fullcs2.jpg
http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/986/2493984380fullvl9.jpg
http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/9572/2493984382fullmd0.jpg
Here ya go!:icon_welder:

[kunar]

those look like the pics i saw, he used the piece he cut from the axle beam to make the cover. i wonder how its held up, it seems like the aluminum housing may get stuck bearing more load than it should be....

[sharpertouch]

very nice!
i just want to skip the whole tubular gard and completly make the cover out of the 3/8" plate.

also... ive taken down both axle housings and found that the pass side is a bit twisted! heh whod a guessed. also need driver spindle. err... time for a donar vehicle.

[Evan]

those look like the pics i saw, he used the piece he cut from the axle beam to make the cover. i wonder how its held up, it seems like the aluminum housing may get stuck bearing more load than it should be....

My thoughts exactly.

Would be nice to see how it has held up....regardless it is a nice fab job.

[sharpertouch]

update: finally after getting a new passenger arm and another spindle and litterally replacing ever u-joint, bushing, ball-joint, seal, etc. ive started on the diff cover. but before i get into that let me mention the following... got all poly parts that i could from James Duff ent. extended rad arm bushings, axle pivot bushings, and spring perch cups. theyll be quite the nice upgrade to on-road and off-road driving mannors. also had a set of custom coil springs made up to compensate for the added weight my v8 puts on the 8" coils from skyjacker.
now as for the diff cover... after a couple templates and moching. i cut a 3/8 ring and drill pressed the ten holes for the d35. she looks mean and more importantly fits good. now ill start on the actual cover that goes on the ring...
ps ill get a pic of the ring and parts up asap.

[mkpecor]

it is cool,never seen that be for,i wounder how those bird shit welds held up on the diff cage?

[kunar]

ps ill get a pic of the ring and parts up asap.

please!

[mkpecor]

im not sayin the cage sucks, its bad ass the welds could be better.....buddy

[gnardoom]

thats too much weight to add and alot of work just to look at your gears, I geuss he got some needed welding practice out of it though

[AllanD]

I wouldn't do it quite that way....

Instead of using hte piece cut out f the beam I'd simply
chop up another beam....

then again I live in a "material rich" condition...

AD

[sharpertouch]

ok so this is the ring for the cover made of 3/8" steel.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v506/SharperTouch/100_3027-2.jpg

[sharpertouch]

ill have picks up tomorrow of the build and install... she looks really awesome...

sorry this took so long but i didnt get the diff cover back from the mill lathe till yesterday...

[sharpertouch]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v506/SharperTouch/100_3060.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v506/SharperTouch/100_3070.jpg

[Hahnsb2]

Awesome :icon_thumby:

[97BlackBetty]

You know that does look pretty good. I think the blue helps out as well. Nice work. Hopefully it serves the part you are hoping it will.

[CheapThrillB2]

To fill, all you need to do is remove the fill plug and dump fluid in there...

To change, buy a $2.00 siphon pump, suck the old oil out thru the fill plug and dump the new stuff in.

I don't see any benefit to doing this, and there is a great risk of weakening the beam. You wouldn't be able to so any work in there by only removing the cover, and filling/changing is already easy.

Your next project IMHO should be to fix the leak in your diff so you don't need to add fluid all the time.

The IFS (torision bar set-up) the diff cover has the fill plug and its about impossible to get the tube for the siphon pump intothe housing to get at the fluid. As well as the diff cover itself is abouti mpossible to remove short of doing ALOT of tear down


Having the cover would allow easy access to the c-clip holding the right shaft. wouldn't need to do a spring mod to the shafts.

[Jim Oaks]

You people suck.




Just kidding.






I mentioned this to Joel a couple of years ago and have been sitting on the idea.

I wanted to do this to TRS-2 later this year and add the 44 knuckle swap.

Since you guys are doing this, I'll go ahead and tell you my ideas......

I had two ideas on how to do this:

1 - Make a thick ring (like say 3/4 or 1-inch) that has two sets of holes in it. One set that would allow bolts to recess in to the ring and hold the ring and diff housing to the beam sandwiching the beam between them. The second set of holes would be tapped to allow a cover to bolt to the ring.

2- I like this idea better, a thick ring like above, but it would be welded to the beam to strengthen the beam from the section being cut out. Again, two sets of holes, but the holes for the diff housing would go through so that the original bolts would be bolting the diff housing to the beam, but be recessed in to the ring. Again, a second set of holes would be tapped to allow the cover to bolt on.

I don't like the idea of a cover that uses the same bolts to hold the diff housing to the beam.

I think the ring should add some strength back in to the beam since your cutting a section out.

Sharpertouch, I think you should take the design a step further. I wouldn't want to worry about the diff housing coming loose when I take the cover off. I would want to be able to take the cover off and clean all the crap out without worrying about the sealant holding the diff housing to the beam.


I tried the whole pump idea to get the diff fluid out from the fill hole. This idea sucks. It took forever and is a pain in the ass. I doubt I even got all the fluid out. Have you ever looked at the slime that get's in your diff from playing in muddy water? Yes, I have vent hoses but it still gets in some how.

[Totalled]

Well, that's cool and all with easier access to the E-clip.. but if you were considering this for merely easing the effort of fluid changes.. this was a whole lot less work:

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b248/totalled/D35-drainplug.jpg

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

I'd knock something like that off of my diff in a hurry. I tapped the bottom of the aluminum housing and put in a drain bolt, that way its protected by the beam itself.

[kunar]

people also grind/drill from the inside of the housing into the bottom most bolt hole to do the same thing. the bottom bolt that holds in the center section doubles as a drain.

[CopyKat]

I mentioned this to Joel a couple of years ago and have been sitting on the idea.

I wanted to do this to TRS-2 later this year and add the 44 knuckle swap.

Since you guys are doing this, I'll go ahead and tell you my ideas......

I had two ideas on how to do this:

1 - Make a thick ring (like say 3/4 or 1-inch) that has two sets of holes in it. One set that would allow bolts to recess in to the ring and hold the ring and diff housing to the beam sandwiching the beam between them. The second set of holes would be tapped to allow a cover to bolt to the ring.

2- I like this idea better, a thick ring like above, but it would be welded to the beam to strengthen the beam from the section being cut out. Again, two sets of holes, but the holes for the diff housing would go through so that the original bolts would be bolting the diff housing to the beam, but be recessed in to the ring. Again, a second set of holes would be tapped to allow the cover to bolt on.

I don't like the idea of a cover that uses the same bolts to hold the diff housing to the beam.

I think the ring should add some strength back in to the beam since your cutting a section out.

Sharpertouch, I think you should take the design a step further. I wouldn't want to worry about the diff housing coming loose when I take the cover off. I would want to be able to take the cover off and clean all the crap out without worrying about the sealant holding the diff housing to the beam.


I tried the whole pump idea to get the diff fluid out from the fill hole. This idea sucks. It took forever and is a pain in the ass. I doubt I even got all the fluid out. Have you ever looked at the slime that get's in your diff from playing in muddy water? Yes, I have vent hoses but it still gets in some how.

That was long ago Jim.

Ya the thought has crossed my mind from time to time. I was thinking of doing it with the new beams I built but after seeing how easy it is to bend them in stock form. I voted against the idea. If I was to do it for a street truck i would go the #2 route Jim mentioned.

For simplicity I did the same as sasquatch and drilled/tapped a hole for a plug on the bottom of the housing. I don't have an e-clip, because I have a lock rite, so it's a moot issue for me.

[sharpertouch]

thanks for all the feed back everyone!

jim - i also had a similar idea of keeping the diff attached to the housing using seperate bolts. however... there is still a vertical bolt that holds the diff to the axle housing on the rear side... also for whatever its worth the gasket sealer and the axle itself help hold it on aswell. in the past ive always had to pry the diff free after disassembling everything from it (only gasket sealer holding it together.) also im hoping the 3/8 ring will suffice for ridgity.

[sharpertouch]

access cover still together and not leaking. tightened all the bolts after a couple trips to work (60 miles round trip)

[Mechanickid]

sounds good man! were you featured in Peterson's 4x4 magazine on the readers rides section?

[Ranger44]

Well crap. I must have totally missed this post. This is a pretty cool idea.

Not sure if I will ever attempt this. Seems like it would possibly weaken the beam, and there'd always be that worry in the back of my head.....

I think tapping a drain plug would be a little better for me.

[sharpertouch]

so a year later and shes held up just fine. no leaking. no bending.
drove the truck from NJ to TN went wheeling at Windrock. Had all four 35's spinning and hoping up a steep wash out with my winch assisting. then drove to NC then back to NJ. i blew my tcase and broke my trans cross member. still no problems with the axle.

[RacinNdrummin]

That is a cool idea, nice application of it.

[whitetrash96]

Did you re-use your stock diff bolts or did you have to get longer ones?

[sharpertouch]

whitetrash96 - i got some longer bolts.

Mechanickid - nah it wasnt me. however i sure wouldnt mind being featured.

[twoll86]

was just think about doing this yesterday lol but i would do it similer to what Allan said only i would start with 2 spare beam cut the section out for the opening and adding/welding a 1/2in plate on the beam drilling and taping the holes in the 1/2 plate and using that with studs to hold in the diff then use the 2nd beam to make my diff cover.

should make pretty strong and keep the diff in place:icon_welder:

what ya'll think of that idea?

[sharpertouch]

just an update- its almost three years to the day now! no breakage twisting or anything other than a small tiny leak. would have not leaked any had i used a sealer on the gasket...
hope all is well. happy holidays

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Good job. How many times have you taken the cover off? Is there anything you would change in your design?

Richard

[sbsrlewis]

Thats good to hear. I have wondered how the beam would hold up. I would like to see if an Ox locker could be made to work on the ttb d35. One these days I might give it a try.

Steve

[AllanD]

the removeable cover would have ONE beneficial effect....

the ability to access the E-clip that retains the passenger side axle shaft.

That along might justify doing it.

Because the various spring based c-clip elimination schemes are all
questionable IMO.

AD

[Hahnsb2]

Because the various spring based c-clip elimination schemes are all
questionable IMO.

AD
Because it works?

[BlackBII]

Because it works?

Because it doesn't work as well, and many RBV owners use the wrong approach.

[Hahnsb2]

Because it doesn't work as well, and many RBV owners use the wrong approach.
Mine works quite well :dunno:

Off the top of my head the only one person I can think of that had a failure was Sunk because the spring wasn't strong enough or it slipped or something like that.

[gwaii]

i haven't done this on the 35 arms,but i did with the 44/50 hybrid in the ranger.on that i used four countersunk bolts to hold the diff housing to the arm,and bolted a solid axle d44 cover on with the stock holes.i think that was about '02 or so when i did it-never had a problem with it.

[BlackBII]

Mine works quite well :dunno:

Off the top of my head the only one person I can think of that had a failure was Sunk because the spring wasn't strong enough or it slipped or something like that.

So does mine.

But like I said, there are a number of ways not to do it.

[4x4junkie]

Because it doesn't work as well, and many RBV owners use the wrong approach.

Mine's been perfect.

Years ago I did have the one on my Ranger pop the cap though (internal spring). Articles stating you can put a spring INSIDE the yoke don't explain there's only like 1" of room in there at ride height, when the axle tries to droop, *pop* it goes. Since going to an external spring, no more issue. So it is true, the method used does make a difference.

[Hahnsb2]

Mine's been perfect.

Years ago I did have the one on my Ranger pop the cap though (internal spring). Articles stating you can put a spring INSIDE the yoke don't explain there's only like 1" of room in there at ride height, when the axle tries to droop, *pop* it goes. Since going to an external spring, no more issue. So it is true, the method used does make a difference.
Doh! It's been so long since I've heard the internal spring discussed I completely forgot about it. Definitely the wrong way to go about it IMO.

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

I've got the internal spring....No issues as of yet. I tacked the cap on the end of the shaft.

[4x4junkie]

Yeah I didn't tack mine (and is why it popped out)

The shaft bottoming out in there can still limit your droop when both sides drop out together, although that might not necessarily be a bad thing if it's just a trail wheeler (won't be spending lots of time in the air).

[86 slo-vo]

my expo had the internal spring...when i pulled it all out it was about destroyed

[BlackBII]

Hence, the way to not do it.

:icon_thumby:

Mine's external.

[86 slo-vo]

Hence, the way to not do it.

:icon_thumby:

Mine's external.

yup it didnt find its way back in

[AllanD]

Because it works?

Yep, an internal spring tends to pop the sheet metal cap out of the yoke
(even if "Tacked"
and if the slip joint gets "Sticky" it'll still pull the shaft out of the diff.

And I've never seen an external spring that managed to effectively seal the slip joint with a boot...

but failing that... I'd rather have the damned clip than have the shaft pull out 20 miles from
the nearest paved road...

Being able to access the clip obviates the NEED to eliminate it.


AD

[BlackBII]

And I've never seen an external spring that managed to effectively seal the slip joint with a boot...

AD


I used an old shock boot...it seem to work. :dunno:

I haven't had any problems with my shaft falling out, not yet, at least...... That came out wrong.